The Fight for New Priorities
After adopting a budget resolution that reflects new priorities, Congress moved forward on bills to implement some of the new priorities, including:
- Funding public services at a responsible level
- Expanding health care coverage for uninsured children
- Improving Food Stamp benefits for low-income Americans
- Information & resources
However, President Bush has threatened to veto all these bills, setting up a critical fight over national priorities.
Funding public services at a responsible level
After the budget sets overall spending guidelines, Congress must enact legislation appropriating funds for the various government programs for the coming fiscal year.
Before the bills financing programs for Fiscal Year 2008 were even drafted, President Bush threatened to veto any spending bill that exceeded the levels in his budget, and 147 Republican House members signed a letter to the President saying they would vote to sustain his vetoes. President Bush has since issued written veto threats against the bills funding domestic programs, including the bill funding programs in the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. The Labor-HHS-Ed appropriations bill is the largest domestic funding bill and has the most services targeted to low-income families. The funding levels in the President's budget would force cuts in many of these services.
Fiscal year 2008 began on October 1 without any appropriations bills having been enacted. Stopgap measures have been approved to keep the government operating through December 14, 2007, while the struggle between Congress and President Bush over funding for domestic programs continues.
What's happening on the Hill
Congress approved a Labor-HHS-Ed appropriations bill that rejects the cuts to services in the President's budget and provides some increased funding for education, community health care, Head Start, child care, low-income energy assistance, and other vital services. It passed the Senate on Nov. 7 with a vote of 56-37, and the House on Nov. 8 by a vote of 274-141. Although the overall spending increases are modest, President Bush vetoed the legislation on November 13. A strong grassroots effort needs to continue to convince Members of Congress to vote to override the President's veto.
Expanding health care coverage for uninsured children
Created in 1997, the State Children's Health Insurance Program ("SCHIP") was designed to supplement the Medicaid program and provide health care for uninsured children whose family incomes were higher than the eligibility levels for Medicaid, but too low to enable them to afford health insurance.
SCHIP provides access to health care to six million children and some low-income parents, pregnant women, and other adults who would otherwise go without health insurance. Together, Medicaid and SCHIP successfully provide health insurance to millions of the nation's most vulnerable families. In spite of the success of SCHIP, nearly nine million children still lack health coverage in this country, and many of them are eligible for SCHIP but can't enroll due to funding limits. The number of uninsured children has increased for the last two years, largely due to the fact that programs like SCHIP and Medicaid have not been able to keep pace with the decline in employer-sponsored health coverage. Yet, under the budget proposed and insisted on by President Bush, SCHIP would receive an increase of just $5 billion over five years — a funding level that isn't even sufficient to maintain coverage for currently enrolled children, given the rising costs of health care.
What's happening on the Hill
On October 3, 2007, the President vetoed a Children's Health Insurance bill that represented a bipartisan compromise between the House and Senate. The bill would extend health care coverage to an additional 3.8 million low-income uninsured children, many of whom are currently eligible for the program. Congress has so far been unable to override the President's veto, but Congressional negotiators are working to revise the bill in order to win additional supporters. In the meantime, the SCHIP program, which was set to expire at the end of September, continues to provide health care to children through stopgap funding that runs out on December 14, 2007.
Improving Food Stamp benefits for low-income Americans
In the wealthiest country in the world, 35 million people live in households that cannot afford the food they need. Unfortunately, Food Stamps, which represent the nation's foremost anti-hunger policy, provide on average only $1 per person per meal, and the minimum monthly benefit, most frequently received by elderly Americans, has been set at $10 for 30 years.
This year, Congress has an opportunity to significantly improve Food Stamps and help millions of Americans who face a constant struggle against hunger. The Food Stamp program is up for reauthorization as part of this year's farm bill, which provides funding for Food Stamps as well as other nutrition supports.
What's happening on the Hill
The House of Representatives has approved H.R. 2419, which invests $4 billion over five years to improve Food Stamp program benefits and access. To pay for increased spending on Food Stamps and other nutrition supports, the House bill closes a tax loophole that raises $7.5 billion over five years by ensuring that foreign-based companies operating in the United States pay their fair share of taxes. The full Senate is currently considering a version of the farm bill.
The President has threatened to veto the farm bill if it closes this tax loophole. The President's budget would cut benefits over the next five years for 300,000 people who rely on Food Stamps.
Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations, Comparison to FY 07 - President, House Final and Senate Approps. Committee, Coalition on Human Needs (August 6, 2007).
The 2008 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill: Is the Threatened Veto Justified? Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (July 18, 2007).
More Americans, Including More Children, Now Lack Health Care Coverage, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (2007).
Joint Statement on the 2007 Farm Bill, Food Research and Action Center, America's Second Harvest, American Public Human Services Association, (2007).
2007 Farm Bill Nutrition Title [summary], House Agriculture Committee (2007).